Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SrBurrito]

So, I have acquired a medium-sized dog (too big to fly in the cabin) and I'm trying to figure out how to get him back to the US. Since I'm going to be traveling for a couple of months after leaving Korea, he can't come on the same plane as me on the way back, so he must travel unaccompanied.

Does anyone have some experience with this? I'm having a lot of trouble getting an answer out of any airlines because when I call, I keep getting bounced around, often to dead numbers, and apparently the English-speaking side of customer service can't help. I've gotten quotes from companies that do this, but I want to see if I can do it cheaper.

I guess I'm really looking for information on the cost of shipping a pet unaccompanied on the plane, and of any airlines that you know do this for sure.

Thanks a lot

[Scamps]

www.cwhospital.com the only place in Korea!

[dragon777]

Very expensive...$2000 not much change left. You must really love this thing.

[Scamps]

Although I'm not sure of the price, maybe another option is to find someone you trust who will be flying to your neck of the woods around the time you can get your dog back and pay them a little extra plus the cost to fly your dog in cargo but somewhat unaccompanied. This will be the ultimate cheapest way. I'd guess a few hundred dollars, maybe $200 plus paying the person a fee.

Oh, almost forgot! Definitely visit www.animalrescuekorea.org they have tons of experience and knowledge on this subject.
Good luck!

[losing_touch]

Yes, get over to Animal Rescue Korea. You will find the answer there. My dog is small enough to go in the cabin with me, and I still had a hell of a time finding answers to my questions. I have it sorted now and I will be dropping him off in America before coming back to finish up and then head off to Thailand.

[mdspeakeasy]

I just did this in January bringing a dog from Korea to Canada - (by the way, anyone who says you can't bring "Jindos" out of Korea is wrong, you can - it just can't have "papers")
You will definately need an up to date rabies vaccination and a paper that officially certifies that. It's good if you can find an English speaking vet to provide one for you and get it in both languages.
There is no quarantine getting the dog out of the airport - you go to a room on the second floor, a woman looks at your rabies paper, issues you a couple forms and you're good to go. Then you hand in your dog at the oversized baggage and pick it up when you land.
I'm not certain about the quarantine issues in the States but if it's like Canada then you just show them your rabies certificate and you pick up your animal right then and there and go home.
As for the doggie airplane ticket. You have to contact the airline and tell them what flight you want to book your animal on and then it costs around 300 dollars. They usually only allow one big dog per plane because that's all they can fit so you have to plan ahead by several weeks. Plus you'll need the proper crate which I ordered directly through the airplane people. It was 140 000 won and doubles as my dog's "house" now. A good purchase I think.
As for your bullsh#t idea of ditching your dog to go travelling for 3 months, I think you're really being unfair to your animal. Unless you can find someone who you trust enough to "doggie-sit" for you while you go party in Thailand and then come back and pick up your dog and fly home together from Korea. That's about the best scenario - the one where someone drives the animal all the way to the airport for you, loads it onto a plane and you pick it up in the states....that's crap.
It's a 12 hour flight - the animal will be stuck alone - most likely closer to 18 hours, in a cage, frightened - Mine was so petrified when they took her away she was shaking, she crapped in the cage and never touched her food, in the days following the flight she lost most of her fur on her underside from stress and a ton of weight. It took months to rehabilitate her and get her coat and weight back.
I don't see this as something that you can just have other people do for you - you're not sending home a guitar or a bicycle - I seriously encourage you to take responsibility and be there for your pet.

[Geckoman]

A good person to contact with questions, concerns and inquires regarding stuff like this is:

Shirley Miller
She is an officer in the humane and animal adoption society called
"Guam Animals In Need" or "G.A.I.N." for short, in Guam, USA.

She would have the answers to any questions, concerns or inquires about such matters.

Shirely Miller
Secretary, Guam Animals In Need (GAIN)

E-mail:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Phone:
(+1) 671-477-5658
(+1) 671-789-2358
(+1) 671-653-4246
(time zone difference: +1 hour from Korea)

Mailing Address:
Guam Animals In Need
P. O. Box 22365,
Barrigada, GU 96921
USA

Website: http://www.guamanimals.org/
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Good luck!

[DC in Suwon]

Man, I can't imagine what a dog would go through on a 12 hour flight!! Do they give them sedatives or something?? It has to take a couple years (14 in dog) off their life huh?

[Jane]

The bigger dogs are kept in the undercarriage of the plane, and it is forbidden to give them water or food during the flight.

I heard the best way to make sure the pet is happy is to make sure it has a blanket, toys, and what he/she'll need for the entire flight.

[MissLady717]

lol changed my mind about getting a dog when i'm there...

[losing_touch]

[kabrams]

[Geckoman]

Here is another thread about this topic:

Getting a dog and taking it to the States
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=90296&highlight=

[teachergirltoo]

[SrBurrito]

I thought I would bump this thread and say what I wound up doing. We tried to contact airlines directly, as I'm sure it's possible to arrange it without using a pet shipping service, but the people at the airlines could not speak English well enough, nor I Korean well enough, to get it done. If you speak Korean, you could probably do it cheaper than we did it, but it would surely have been more effort.

I used Petairline http://petairline.co.kr/ and they were really great. We bought the crate from them because we had trouble finding one big enough, which was W170,000 but they delivered it to us and it was a high quality crate. I dealt with Maya (신영단) who spoke English like a native speaker (so much so that if it wasn't for her Korean name in the emails, I would have thought she was a native speaker), she was very helpful, quick with responses, accommodating, and all that good stuff. I would definitely recommend that service.

They picked Puppy up from my apartment, kept him overnight because of work schedule/ plane ticket conflicts, and he went from Seoul to Amsterdam, stayed overnight there in the puppy waiting area, then flew to Minneapolis.

He did not get sedated and did have food and water in the crate with him. If I remember correctly, it is actually a requirement. Sedation combined with the altitude/pressure (or something like that) of flight can stop a dog's breathing, and apparently sedation is the primary cause of pets not making it through the flight.

The total cost was W870,000 plus the crate and various vet bills and whatnot (he needed current vaccinations and permission from the vet to fly) and while it was quite expensive, it was well worth it. I did not want to put the dog through all this, but there was no one to take him in Korea, and now that he's back in the US with me, his life is much better than it ever was in Korea. He has a yard, lots of space, other animal friends, etc.

He arrived in the US understandably distressed, but healthy, and stayed with my father while my wife and I traveled. True, it would have been better for us, for the dog, and for our pocketbook to fly the dog with us on the plane. What would have been even better was finding a way that he didn't have to fly at all.

It worked out well in the end, but in the future, I would definitely avoid putting any of my pets on airplanes. It's expensive, it's a hassle, and it's no fun for Puppy.

Hope that's helpful.